Boehner slammed for tabling Sandy relief

SUPERSTORM SANDY

David McCumber |
January 3, 2013

Rep. Peter King, R-New York, called the Republican House leadership's decision not to bring the aid bill to the floor a "knife in the back."

Photo By Tim Larsen/Associated Press

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie accused Congress of playing political games with disaster relief.

Washington --

Wave after wave of outrage rolled through the House of Representatives on Tuesday night and Wednesday, like waves crashing against beaches ruined by Superstorm Sandy.

The House Republican leadership's decision, after Tuesday night's "fiscal cliff" vote, not to bring the Senate-passed $60 billion supplemental aid bill to the floor incensed House members from the Northeast on both sides of the aisle.

The decision means that the lion's share of aid to victims of the October storm probably will be delayed at least a month, perhaps longer.

On Tuesday night, as word spread on the House floor that the bill had been withdrawn, legislators including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi fruitlessly sought out Speaker John Boehner for an explanation.

On Wednesday, when it was clear that the bill would not be surfaced for a vote, they stepped to the podium, one after another, to rail against Boehner's decision.

Rep. Jim Himes, a Democrat from Connecticut, was uncharacteristically angry as he addressed the House.

"I remember ... the response of the people who stood up and said 'I will help' - the firefighters from Old Greenwich, the Red Cross in Bridgeport, the churches that opened to serve soup and keep people warm, schools that were open to address the fact that people didn't have homes," Himes said.

The reason for Boehner's decision to pull the bill was not clear, and his office did not respond to questions about it Wednesday.

GOP sources said that after Republican members expressed frustration about how the Senate-passed 'fiscal cliff' bill had little or no spending cuts, the leadership was reluctant to immediately ask them to approve $60 billion in new spending.

The Senate had primed the pump for the House, passing a package of $60.6 million in Sandy aid on Friday, "by an overwhelming bipartisan vote" of 61-33, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Wednesday.

"We're getting what New York and New Jersey need, and that's all that counts," Rep. Peter King, R-New York, said, after spending the morning raging at Boehner's decision, calling it a "knife in the back" and urging New Yorkers not to give any money to House Republicans who come to the Empire State looking for campaign contributions.

After the meeting, Boehner and Cantor issued a statement saying a vote on $9 billion in immediate aid would be taken by the House on Friday, with the $51 billion balance to be considered in the House's first full day of debate on Jan. 15.

Christie unloaded on Boehner and Republican lawmakers in Washington for putting "palace intrigue" ahead of their official responsibilities.

"Shame on you. Shame on Congress," Christie said at a news conference in Trenton, the state capital. "It's absolutely disgraceful, and I have to tell you, this used to be something that was not political. Disaster relief was something you didn't play games with.... It is why the American people hate Congress."